


The Girl Who Gazed At The World

by Mars_anon



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Fire Nation (Avatar), Fire Nation Royal Family, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ursa (Avatar) is a Bad Parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 10:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28723374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_anon/pseuds/Mars_anon
Summary: When the scorned and the forgotten upheave society and leave nothing but embers. A journal of Azula's abandonment and subsequent rise to mastery.
Kudos: 18





	The Girl Who Gazed At The World

**Author's Note:**

> AU Ursa and Ozai are content to raise their children together. Azulon’s death is blamed on an Earth assassin.

"Naturally, I am hated." Azula rarely brushed her own hair except in a state of agitation. "Father is suspicious the spirits picked me to overthrow the line of the Fire Lord. Mother thinks I am a devil." 

"But you don't let it bother you." Ty Lee leaned forward. They were in her room, watching the princess muse into the mirror as she often did. 

Azula stopped for a moment and nodded. "Grandfather didn't care. I should have told him not to ever trust that woman. Now that would have been amusing. Watching mother be executed for treason."

Mai sometimes fantasized about killing her own mother, but she would not revel in it. 

"What is dear brother up to today, I wonder?"

Mai closed her eyes, remembering how yesterday Zuko extended an invitation to the pottery barn with him and his mother. Mai wanted to accept, but you don't change plans on Azula.

Azula's life revolved around her brother, whether she realized it or not. Tormenting him was just an excuse to spend time with him. Not that Mai would ever point that out to Azula.

"Mai?"

"He is with your mother making pottery or some other inane activity."

A rare expression crossed Azula's face. "As if I needed any more confirmation that I am chopped liver in the eyes of my mother."

"C'mon, Azula, we can do something. And it'd be a lot less stuffy than spending the day with those two!" 

Ty Lee as usual knew exactly what to say. Mai never met a more manipulative personality. She seemed to specialize in diffusing Azula's temper.

"Oh! I have an idea. Why don't we go to that one bar? See all the hotties again."

Mai rolled her eyes. "They were soldiers, Ty Lee. Way too old for you."

"They were officers, Mai, get it straight."

"As if that makes it any better."

"Alright," Azula interjected. "I need to stretch my legs anyways."

"Um," Mai spoke up. "Did you forget that your father grounded you last week for the thing with the cake? You can't leave the palace."

Azula sighed. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him. We're not supposed to be in bars anyways."

"Yay!"

Mai gathered her pack and mumbled. "I have a bad feeling about this."

They were short and obviously under the drinking age, but their identities were concealed by a cloak and hood. The bartender quietly accepted a generous payment to let them in.

Though frequented by the military, the bar was viewed as a place for the enlisted to unwind in a respectful manner. As such, there was a lot of looking the other way. No one really cared if a few teenagers walked in as long as they weren’t caked in mud.

Naturally, Azula was dressed in her plainer clothes and her crown was nowhere to be found. The bar was near the barracks and was serving its first customers at mid-day.

They found themselves to a booth in the back and ordered some red wine just to pass the time.

"Do you look forward to going to school again?" Ty Lee asked.

"No," Mai immediately replied.

Azula seemed to digest the question, however, and to her shame, she was actually looking forward to getting out of the jurisdiction of her parents. At the same time she balked at the idea of the Royal Princess attending classes with plain old nobility.

"I try not to think of things in that way," Azula supplied. "It is my duty, therefore I do it."

Mai didn't bother to try to decipher what Azula meant by that. Sometimes the princess would say weird things, but Ty Lee and Mai would act like it made perfect sense.

"Hey! You three!"

"Well, at least he can count," Mai muttered.

A brutish fellow slammed his drink down on their table, a tall mug of beer, and some of it splashed onto Azula. Mai started praying that someone wouldn't die today.

"This is my table. I suggest you move before something regrettable happens."

Ty Lee put a hand up to her mouth and giggled. "That _would_ be regrettable."

Mai stabbed Ty Lee with her elbow. There was a reason that Azula and Ty Lee got along so well, and it was because they shared the same appreciation for energetic situations.

"Am I the only sane one around here?" Mai lamented when Azula abruptly stood up and exited the booth.

"I suggest you apologize if you want to live."

The man just laughed. "Big words from such a puny boy. What if I just snap you in half here and now?"

"Oh, I'm not a boy."

Like lightning, Azula delivered a kick to his solar plexus. He stumbled back, which gave Azula the opening she wanted to take his mug and smash it over his head. Azula didn't believe in playing fair.

Unfortunately, several men (maybe his buddies, maybe they just wanted to break it up) decided to intervene. When they moved to accost Azula, it forced Mai and Ty Lee to react. Mai threw a couple knives as a warning while Ty Lee disabled the two closest combatants. Azula meanwhile fended off a guy brandishing a ceremonial sword.

"What is going on here?" a boisterous voice suddenly entered the bar. "I was informed this bar was respected and I am rewarded with this?"

The bar grew hushed as the figure emerged from the crowd. It was Rear Admiral Adachi, whose primary responsibility was the defense of Caldera. Aside from Iroh, he was probably the most revered officer in the military for coming up with the fool proof defenses of the Capitol.

"Sir, these three hooligans physically assaulted this soldier here." One of the officers in the crowd, looked to be a lieutenant, pointed to the body on the ground and quickly resumed his salute.

"I find it hard to believe that these three, from the looks of it, teenagers came in here looking to pick a fight against trained soldiers and sailors twice their size.” The Admiral scoffed and proceeded to stand before the three girls. He reached out for the hood of the figure who stood in the middle. He tossed the hood back and squinted, his eyes lighting in recognition.

"Now this is an unusual surprise. We are blessed with an incredibly special guest today."

Mai and Ty Lee looked at each other and removed their hoods as well. Azula, meanwhile, stood there, cursing how the Admiral technically outranked her. At least until her sixteenth birthday when she comes of age.

“Admiral Adachi,” she began confidently, a hand on her hip. “Is this how the military normally spends its afternoon?”

“There will always be a few bad eggs, Princess. Thank you for taking care of one for me. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

Azula sniffed. “No need for apologies. I took pleasure in it.”

The Admiral motioned towards the exit. “Won’t you permit me to escort you back to the Palace? It’s too much of a risk to let you return on your own.”

Azula grit her teeth. It would dishonor him if she refused. But if she accepted, her father was sure to find out. Then again, once the rumors got around, her father would find out anyways.

“I am pleased to accept your offer, Admiral.”

She went first as per custom, the Admiral and his personal guards following behind. Outside the Admiral summoned a carriage and nodded pleasantly at the girls. “I realize you probably don’t want to arrive home this way, but with so many witnesses my hands are tied. I should have known not to walk into that bar.”

Mai muttered, “I did know that.”

Azula didn’t say anything. The carriage arrived and Ty Lee hopped in first. Then Azula entered followed by Mai. The Admiral sat across from them, his hair greying though he was only in his forties. “I was once your age. I got into a lot of trouble, but my parents always bailed me out. Thanks to them I was able to serve my country.”

Mai flinched and felt sorry for the Admiral who had no clue the negative effect this conversation could have on Azula.

“Oh, and what sort of trouble did you get into, Admiral?” Ty Lee engaged him animatedly, taking the subject off parents and offspring. “I can’t picture it to be honest. You look all proper and befitting your station.”

 _There we go. Feed his ego._ Mai sometimes wondered at the genius of Ty Lee.

“Oh, ostrich-horse racing, underground fighting, you name it. It was a good time to be a youth of the nation.”

“Sounds wonderful,” Azula remarked, her gaze set out the side of the carriage. Racing. Real fighting and _not_ sparring. Things a princess would never be allowed to do.

“Well, it was also leading me to an early grave. So, I smartened up, joined the military and the rest, as they say, is history.”

The palace came into view and Azula felt apprehension building in her bones. It became absolute dread when she saw who was waiting at the main entrance, two gold plated doors that were three times the height of a normal person.

The carriage stopped and all four disembarked.

The Admiral bowed. The Fire Lord nodded and twitched his head, giving the Admiral leave.

The Fire Lady stood at the entrance as well beside her husband, a serious look on her face. Azula turned to her two friends and bid them goodbye.

“You two should go home. You probably won’t see me for a month or so.”

They both nodded and performed a formal bow to Azula. They then hopped into the carriage where the Admiral was waiting for them. Ty Lee looked back and locked eyes with a forlorn Azula, her parents on either side with one hand on her back, guiding her inside the Palace.

It was two moons into the new school year when Azula showed up, a few pounds lighter.

  
  
  
  



End file.
